Missing DUI manslaughter suspect and family found in Texas

Jacqueline Ingles

6:01 PM, Feb 5, 2014

1:48 AM, Feb 6, 2014

A DUI manslaughter suspect who disappeared last month with his family has been captured in Texas, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Garrett Bruce, 31, was arrested in Katy, Texas, on Wednesday.

WFTS

Garrett Bruce

Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Garrett Bruce

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

KATY, Texas - A DUI manslaughter suspect who disappeared last month with his family has been captured in Texas, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

Garrett Bruce, 31, was arrested in Katy, Texas, about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the agency.

U.S. Marshal deputies found him at a Camping World, where he'd stay for two days with his wife, Jennifer Bruce, and their sons, Brett and Dillon Bruce. When captured, Garrett Bruce was attempting to have a trailer repaired.

Bruce was arrested without incident, deputies said.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office had been searching for Bruce and his family since last month. According to deputies, they disappeared as court dates approached related to Bruce's outstanding charge of DUI manslaughter.

The charge stems from a Dec. 11, 2012, crash that killed Patrick Vosbein. Bruce was driving back from work at Papa John's Pizza in Tarpon Springs with Vosbein when Bruce lost control of his Dodge Charger while driving 70 mph, according to law enforcement.

The car struck a utility pole and Vosbein, who was not wearing a seatbelt, flew from the car's back window. He suffered head injuries and later died. Bruce's blood alcohol content was almost twice the legal limit, police said.

Concerns grew over the family's whereabouts when deputies couldn't find Jennifer Bruce. Between Jan. 10 and 12, she stopped contacting family and friends, deputies said. They discovered she'd withdrawn her sons, Brett, 5, and Dillon, 7, from Longleaf Elementary School.

The inside of their home at 4201 La Pasida Lane in New Port Richey showed no signs of foul play or that the family had gathered belongings to relocate. The family car was also at the residence.

Garrett Bruce was out on $100,000 bond and under monitoring by a bondsman by an ankle bracelet that Bruce later removed.

"Since he had a head start, I thought the road would be cold and, 'Oh Lord, here we go again!'" said Patricia Walker, Vosbein's mother via phone from her Tennessee home when asked about his disappearance.

Walker told ABC Action News she has traveled the nearly 700 miles to Tampa to attend all the court proceedings related to her son's deaths, a total of 15 visits in an 18-month period.

She was notified of the capture by the State Attorney's Office.

"I was shouting, 'There is a God!' We are finally going to get justice," she said.

Bruce will now be extradited back to Pinellas County within 60 days.

Walker intends to travel to Tampa until the case concludes. Until she sees Bruce next, she wants him to know she is ecstatic he is back in handcuffs.

"You done us a favor by fleeing," Walker said. "You've proved to us you are guilty. You didn't have to bring your boys into this. I can't wait to see you in handcuffs."

It is unclear if Bruce's wife went willingly and whether she will face charges.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.